Christmas Time is Here
by Hanzatsu-Hime
Summary: You know when you're at a party and you spend the entire time with one person, just talking and laughing? This is the ZoNa version of that, but at Christmas time. [ZoroXNami] My Secret Santa gift for the ZoNa Holiday event 2019 on Tumblr (Check out zonamievents for more submissions and ZoNa events like this!)


When Zoro woke up, he hadn't a clue as to where he was. He enjoyed his naps best when there was enough time for him to slowly awaken by blinking his eyes multiple times, stretching his body out like a large, lazy cat and waiting for one of his fellow Straw Hats to tell him where he ended up. He truly considered that to be one of the benefits of traveling with a crew rather than being alone: someone would notice if he wasn't where he was meant to be and put in the leg work to find him.

"Zoro!" screamed a shrill voice brimming with frustration.

His gut tensed the moment he heard her. In an almost shrill cry of his own, he answered with his eyes still partially shut, "What!?"

As the swordsman fought the fog over his eyes in order to take in the sight of the angry navigator, his ears picked up on the chatter of other people around them. But before any of their words could register, Nami overrode them all with her taunt, "I can't believe that spiked eggnog knocked you out like that."

It was her insinuation that he was weak - weaker than her when it came to handling his liquor - that made him bolt up in his seat. "No!" was his intelligent reply.

He could hear the Prince of Dumbass Kingdom laughing like an idiot from the opposite side of the dining hall. "None of us could hold a decent conversation over the sound of you snoring so loudly."

"Tch," Zoro grimaced at the bob of blond hair moving around in the kitchen. Over the tops of his crew mates heads who were seated at the dining table, he bit back, "More like you poisoned me with your shitty cooking and I had to sleep it off in order to recover."

"Marimo!"

"Now that we're all finished eating," Robin not only raised her voice, but she lifted a hand in the air as if she needed to claim her time to speak. Which, in all honesty, Zoro realized was fair. "How about we open up our presents?"

"Yeah!" Franky cheered. He was strumming some happy sounding tune at one end of the table, with Brook trying to keep up with his melody using his violin. "C'mon everyone! Let's dig into that SUPER present pile!"

Brook quickly pointed out, "This is our first Christmas together since we were all separated two years ago, and we definitely want it to be a fe-mury one! Yo ho ho ho!"

"Yeah!" cheered an extremely amused Chopper.

The musician's words struck a chord within Zoro's heart, as he hadn't been thinking about the significance of the moment while he was trying to wake up. He turned his head to look at the giant Christmas tree the girls had set up at the back of the hall and couldn't help but feel a little be infected by the 'Christmas spirit' or whatever they called it. There were lights and decorations and popcorn laced around the branches, all accentuated by the star at the very top that was just half an inch shy of grazing the ceiling. Everyone seemed so excited to see what gifts were bought for them, except for the cranky chef for some reason.

He'd be the better man and let the squabble go.

For now.

"All right," Zoro yawned. "So how're we doing this?"

"I'm glad you asked, Zoro!" exclaimed Usopp as he scrambled around the pulled out seats at the table in order to reach the tree. "I was thinking we could hand out one gift per person until we've gone through the entire crew, then we can start again."

"Won't be here forever then?" Sanji argued.

Usopp gave him an unimpressed look. "And just where else are you going to be tonight?"

A belch from the captain somehow brought the entire conversation to a halt. Zoro turned to see that Luffy was inflated like a balloon, bigger than any Christmas they'd had in the past. He found it rather funny, as it might have been a side effect of his training that he could fit even more food in that engorged belly of his. As if he could hear his thoughts, Luffy patted the skin of his torso that bulged out of his pants and decreed, "I'm ready for presents!"

"Well, so long as _you're_ ready." Nami, unimpressed with Luffy's vulgarity, rose from her seat on the bench next to Zoro and pulled out her chair at the table. Zoro realized he might as well do the same and claimed the spot right next to her.

"All right, let's see here," Usopp murmured while fishing for something out of one of his many pockets. Finally, he retrieved a Santa that was complete with it's own faux beard and fixed it onto his head. Then, he reached down towards the pile of gifts the crew had wrapped for one another and handed one to Luffy. "Ho ho ho, this here gift is for none other than our captain-I mean, _the_ captain of the Straw Hat crew, Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Gimmie!" demanded _the_ captain.

"Don't you want to know who it's from first?" cooed the shipwright from the other end of the table.

Usopp made sure to shout it out while Luffy extended his arms to tear the gift out of his hands. "It's from FRANKY! Dammit Luffy, can't you just wait a second?"

"Nope!" he admitted honestly as he dropped his present box on the table. Realizing that he couldn't see it over his gargantuan gut, Luffy concentrated for a few long moments until it looked as though his belly simply popped and shrunk back down to its original size. The sound of his rubber body tensing and shrinking startled a couple people at the table, including Nami, who Zoro was amused by when she jumped in her seat.

She turned to him and he worried immediately that she somehow saw his smirk through the back of her head. However, she merely whispered to him, "You didn't get him that giant ham as a gift right? Tell me you didn't buy him more food."

"No!" he shouted-whispered back at her. "I already told you I didn't!"

"Wow," Nami looked almost impressed by him as she began to turn back around. "You actually listened to me for once."

In protest of her thinly veiled insult, Zoro knocked his boot against the leg of her chair if only to make her jump again.

"WHOA!" Luffy's unnecessarily loud scream echoed so loudly throughout the dining hall that everyone present was forced to focus on him. "Franky, this is awesome!"

"Glad you like it!" said the elated cyborg who was pushing his nose over and over again bashfully. "I made it with my own two hands for ya."

Zoro tilted his head around Nami and her long orange locks to try and see what this special gift was. Thankfully, Robin had the sense to ask him, "What did you get, Luffy?"

"It's a puzzle model of the Sunny!"

"Oh wow, I bet we could paint the pieces to make it look even more like Sunny too!" Chopper fawned in the seat next to his captain.

"Thanks, Franky!"

"Merry Christmas, captain!"

"He'll be occupied for an hour at most and then break it, probably." Zoro grumbled underneath his breath.

"Oh yeah," Nami sighed as she side-eyed him. "But it's still a thoughtful gift."

"As long as I don't end up sleeping on one of those pieces when he leaves them everywhere."

His offhand comment made Nami snort, like she was imagining him being prodded by one of those puzzle pieces and she found it hilarious. Again, his foot found the leg of her chair and knocked it. Hard.

"Okay now, next we have a gift fo-o-or… ah! Nami!" bellowed a happy Santa Usopp.

Immediately, he was met with a bunch of confused murmurs from around the room.

"I thought Zoro joined the crew next."

"No, it was Nami then Zoro."

"Nami-san is clearly the better crew member, so it was her _then_ him or Luffy would've been dead."

"Nah, it had to be Zoro first because Luffy got stuck in a cage or something, didn't he?"

"But Nami got him...out, right?"

"Couldn't he have simply cut through the bars?"

"Pfft, not back then he couldn't."

"Don't laugh! I carried the damn thing to safety!" Zoro argued in defence of himself.

A delicate hand fell onto his shoulder, as if to comfort him. He turned to look at Nami, expecting her to back him up. Instead she placed a hand to her heart and said ever so softly, "But it was my hands that were burned putting out the fuse on the Buggy Ball canon."

"You let Nami-san burn her hands!?" And with a fiery shout from the stupid cook, the crew was in an uproar debating the order of their crew mates once again.

Zoro craned his head in a nearly robotic fashion, his expression reading like one simple word with very specific accentuation: really!?

Nami dropped her head onto his shoulder as she laughed to the point that her entire body rattled next to him. Frustrated, he looked to his captain for assistance. "Luffy! Tell them!"

"Um… so I was in a barrel."

"What does that mean!?"

"I'm trying to remember how everything happened! ...And I think that's when I met Koby."

"Can someone just tell me who I'm giving a present too!?" squawked a disgruntled Santa Usopp.

Zoro was ready to shout at him too - he was the person who joined right after Nami, so he should have been able to figure it out too! But all he managed to do was throw his mouth wide open before the giggling mess of a woman at his side admitted through shallow gasps for air. "I-It was him! He's next!"

Together, the rest of the crew released a simple, "Oh."

"You could have just said that earlier." Zoro growled at her through the momentary silence in the dining hall.

All Nami did in response was wink at him before turning to face their Santa. "Throw him a gift already!"

"You know, some people actually respect Santa." Usopp reminded everyone while he tore through the stack of gifts until he found one for the newly recognized first mate. Finally, when he discovered one intened for him, he hurled it across the room at him.

"Hey! Be careful with that!" cried Chopper, essentially confirming that the holographic-like box was indeed from him.

As excited as he was to open his present, Zoro realized that he wasn't a fan of everyone's eyes on him while he did so. His nerves encouraged him to tear open the gift quickly while internally grimacing over the fact that he'd have to endure their gazes eight more times. He tried to focus on the box in his hands as he tore it open, hoping it would occupy his mind. It was the gift itself that ended up distracting him, though. "A smaller box, with your name on it?"

"It's not just a box!" Chopper defended himself as if the question was more of an accusation. He calmed himself down as he clarified, "It's a portable first aid kit. There's bandages in there, plus some saline solution for really bad wounds and mini ice packs that activate the cold when you squeeze them _gently_."

"I see." Was Zoro's emotionless reply.

Nami elbowed him just as Dr. Chopper began to lecture him. "I know you don't care about your injuries so much but you also get lost a lot-"

"No I don't!"

"-so I wanted you to carry one with you just in case you get injured and can't find us, or if you get a really bad wound and can't wait to be treated."

"What a thoughtful gift that is, Chopper. You're such a good doctor." Nami's tone of voice was a little too sweet for someone who was simply admiring a first aid kit. It managed to make the young doctor giddy enough to do his little happy dance, complete with curse words, yet it didn't fool the swordsman.

Leaning to his right, he stated what should have been a question, "This was your doing."

"I have no idea what you mean." She answered him without turning her gaze away from the dancing reindeer boy.

"Well then," refusing to believe her, Zoro popped open the tiny white kit and removed the roll of gauze, followed by the bottle of saline. Then, he placed them in front of her. "Since you're so concerned about me, you can carry the items yourself."

"Huh?" That got her attention, and she whirled around to gawk at the medical items stacked next to her elbow on the table. "How do you expect me to do that? Usopp is the one with the purse."  
There was a cry of dejection from the marksman, but Zoro was much more focused on sharing his idea. "Easy. You can strap the bandages to your thigh like your Clima-Tact, and the saline to one arm, and an ice pack to the other-"

"No! Knock it off!" Nami chastised him, shoving the items back in front of him. She clearly thought his idea was asinine and yet her the smile on her face implied to Zoro that she was at least entertained by his suggestion.

"Nami!" called Santa Usopp.

"Yes?" She became distracted by her turn to open a present, and he absolutely took advantage of the moment to push the components of his gifts in front of her once again.

Her gift was handled much more delicately than his as Usopp handed it to Chopper, who handed it to Robin who in turn passed it to her. It was only when the gift was in front of her that Zoro realized that he appreciated the gentle way they moved his present for her from the tree to her spot at the table.

Only for Nami to use the box to knock his bandages and what not back his way.

"Ooh, who's this from?" she sounded impressed by the colorful wrapping and the bow that nearly stood at eye level with her.

Zoro grinned a toothy grin as Santa Usopp told her, "It's from Zoro."

He expected her to be touched by the effort that went into his gift wrapping, and when she visibly appeared to be moved, he immediately felt awful. How could he tell her that he had her gift wrapped by people at a stand in whatever town he bought it in because he had money left over from the money he had to spend on her?

"This is so nicely wrapped." Nami said softly.

The urge to laugh nervously nearly possessed him.

"There's no way he wrapped it, then." Came a cool insult from the kitchen.

"Shut UP, dartboard eyebrow!" urged Zoro.

Before a proper argument could ensue, Nami had begun to unwrap the very wrapping they were yelling about. She managed to open it along its folded seams like she had analyzed the package and discovered the most efficient way to open it without losing the paper itself. He secretly found it strange that she was so fascinated by the work someone else put into making her gift look pretty on the outside but he wasn't about to tell her that.

Instead, he remained quiet as she reached the box beneath the colorful paper...and then tore through the cardboard to reach the gift inside.

"Glasses?" She said with so much confusion in her tone as she gazed at the cups, it almost sounded like disappointed to his inexperienced gift-giving ears.

"They're not just glasses. Take them out and look at them." Zoro commanded of her before she could make her final assessment of his present.

Curious as ever, he watched Nami reach into the box and remove one of the two stemless wine glasses he bought for her and examine it. He waited through a painful one, two, three seconds before her small gasp reached his ears. The relief he felt was much too much, he realized.

"What's so special about them, girlie?" Franky asked.

Nami made them all wait for her answer as she marveled at the cup some more. Finally, she revealed to them, "They have a map of the Grand Line etched on them."

"Oh that's so clever." Usopp remarked, breaking his Santa facade momentarily.  
Brook chimed in then, "And one day, when Nami completes her dream of making a map of the entire world, they'll be cups just like that with her maps on them."

Zoro did not think that far in advance when he bought the gift for her. He simply thought that alcohol plus maps made a great gift for the crew's navigator. But Brook's assessment wasn't entirely wrong, so he couldn't help but shrug and agree, "Yeah."

"Zoro," Nami sounded choked up when she said his name and right away, his replution towards deep emotions kicked in. He did his best to remain calm and cool externally when she met his eyes with her own. "I love them. Thank you."

He wondered if she knew that he bought her the set so they could drink together.

He wondered if she interpreted his gift in an intimate way.

Romantically, even.

Gulping, he put his arms behind his head, leaned back and nonchalantly replied, "You're welcome."

"Okay, moving along now! Oh, would you look at that, it's Usopp's turn." 'Santa' gave a big hurray as he tore off his bearded hat to hand himself a present. His selfishness did Zoro a favour for the first time ever as it moved the gift exchange along. Sitting next to Nami made him wonder if the rest of the party was going to be awkward between them if she was going to remain obsessed with the glassware he got her, or, if nothing else, that'd she'd remain fascinated until her next turn to open another present came around.

While the rest of the crew paid attention to Usopp receiving something for his garden from Sanji, Zoro nearly jumped out of his skin when Nami leaned his way. Somehow, he heard her say ever so softly, "We're sharing this gift, aren't we?"

Zoro nearly choked on a chuckle. He was so relieved that she didn't form some intense attachment to his present that he actually brought his arms down onto the table to he properly answer her. "Of course we are."

Nami didn't say anything in response, but he felt that he could safely assume by the way she sealed the box for his glasses again that she accepted his terms. It soothed him more than he could possibly say. Better than any saline solution in his first aid kit, but he wouldn't tell Chopper that.

He wouldn't tell _anyone_ that.

He'd just sit back and enjoy the rest of the Christmas party.

One by one, the Straw Hats opened up all of their presents. There were eight presents for each crew member meaning Zoro had to not only stay awake through eight rounds of gift-giving, he had to express the right amount of gratitude for the gifts he received and also thank people for thanking him for giving gifts to them during Christmas. He had no clue that giving gifts was such an exhausting process.

Nevertheless, the gifts that were given to him were all really well thought-out and sincere. Even the shitty cook got him a pair of new winter boots. There was no doubt in his mind that someone else twisted his arm to make sure he got him something of value as a gift, and it was of course given with an insult about how he has no sense of style whatsoever, but it still came from him nonetheless.

There was also a new set of weights for him that were ergonomically designed by Franky, Usopp got him a pricey bottle of whiskey, and Robin got him the sequel to the book of historic swords and their wielders that he had in the library since the first volume was the only book he had in there. Brook and Luffy through off the gift-giving cycle when they admitted that they bought everyone's gifts together and presented Zoro with a poorly drawn coupon that guaranteed 'one hour of silence for training'.

Considering how often he'd been interrupted by the two of them even while hiding in the Crow's Nest, it was actually a well conceived gift in his mind.

Their partnership of gift-giving did cause the system that Santa Usopp had created to crumble before his eyes and he ended up resigning from his position shortly after Luffy and Brook admitted to composing a song about the great and powerful Sogeking. After that, it was everyone for themselves and many of the other members decided that they had had enough joy for the evening and scurried off to bed.

Zoro happily pushed back his seat and began to collect his things when it suddenly dawned on him that he never received a gift from Nami. As someone who didn't normally put a lot of stake in physical possessions, it made him feel rather off-kilter when he watched her gather her own assortment of gifts, leave her seat at the dining room table, shoot him a quick grin and exit the kitchen with a skip in her step.

There was no way that a woman who horded her money like a belli-loving demon wouldn't realize that one of her gifts wasn't given out.

Zoro dropped his presents back onto the table and decided that he'd check under the tree to see if Santa Usopp had actually slacked off in his duties so greatly that he didn't hand out the remaining presents. But as he walked around the corner of the table, he could see to the very end of the room and noticed that the tree was indeed empty underneath. Nothing sat upon the tree skirt aside from a few fallen pine needles and an ornament that Usopp must have knocked off while trying to get one of the many gifts out from under the tree.

Zoro knew he wasn't crazy, yet he still looked back at his pile of presents and associated them with each crew member that had gifted him something tonight to make sure he wasn't just that awful at paying attention to these types of things.

Nope.

Nothing from Nami.

When he had boots from Sanji and nothing from Nami, something was really wrong with his Christmas.

Maybe he had pissed her off on the day she had gone shopping for gifts and she actually didn't buy him anything. Maybe she really thought that sharing his gift with her was his gift too-No, she only knew what her gift was when she opened it tonight. It's not like the damn bird that brought her paper was going to deliver him a gift or something…

'_So what the hell!?_'

Did she really try to save money by not getting him anything because she was mad at him one time? Well, many times, but in particular on the day she went shopping!? If _he_ managed to get her something and she failed to even present him with an I.O.U. or some lame coupon like Brook and Luffy, then he knew he had a right to be pissed off.

The now infuriated swordsman decided he was done with all the festivities, left his gifts on the table for his future self to deal with and stomped his way out of the kitchen. Once he reached the brisk outdoors, he could hear Robin and Franky chatting about the gifts they'd received and how happy they were with every single one of them. They were crossing the lawn deck and in the midst of the night, he almost thought they were holding hands. But, uninterested in anyone else but himself, Roronoa Zoro scoffed as he crossed his arms and headed for the Crow's Nest.

His steps were heavy and loud but he didn't care. The only people he could possibly be bothering are Prince Dumbass and Nami, both of whom he wasn't fond of (at the moment). Zoro even considered using some of his Armament Haki but he knew that'd be overkill-  
"Oh good, here. You take this." He heard her just as he saw her small hands offer him a rather long box. Surprised, he recoiled when he realized that Nami was standing right in front of him on the staircase with one of her sneaky smirks drawn across her face. She had one gift in her other hand and it didn't take him very long to notice it was the box that housed the cups he got her.

"Who's this for?" His immaturity refused to let her get away with not presenting him a gift at the party, even if the gift she just handed him was meant for who he thought it might be for.

Nami rolled her eyes as she looked him up and down. She dropped her box of glasses on top of the present in his hands and chastised him as per usual, "You didn't swipe your own whiskey!? What the hell's the matter with you? Get up there, I'll go grab it." Her groan was totally meant to insult him, yet it never truly reached him.

Zoro could only stare at her as she returned to the kitchen, completely confused. How did she know where he was going, he couldn't help but think to himself. The awe that she could predict where he was going by saying 'get up there' kept him anchored to the step he was on until she threw open the kitchen door and the light of the room spilled out. Not wanting her to know that she managed to stun him - _the _Roronoa Zoro - he quickly made his way to the ropes next to the mast and made his usual climb to the top.

It took no time at all for him to peek his head through the hole in the floor of the Crow's Nest. He slipped the gifts inside and shot them gently across the floor before he finished making his way into the room. Once his feet were planted and he could take a deep breath, Zoro found himself staring at the two boxes that laid before him. His gift to her, one that she loved, sat on top of whatever her gift to him was and he couldn't help but wonder what it was. It was a thin package that was longer than it was wide, dressed with ribbon and a bow as if he appreciated that kind of thing.

She had to know that he was going to decimate that wrapping the moment he got the okay to open it.

"Could you," a grunt from below gathered his attention away from the gifts and caused him to look down the Crow's Nest ladder. "Either help me up, or turn on the lights?"

Wordlessly, he chose the former. He took the bottle of whiskey from her hand first and then helped to pull her up into the room. She weighed so little compared to his weights that he essentially helped her fly momentarily when he lifted her into the room.

"Whoa!" She chirped breathlessly. Zoro let her regain her balance while he went to turn on the light, fulfilling her other request as well. Immediately, she said, "I wish we could dim the lights in here."

"Shoulda asked Franky for that for Christmas." he pointed out.

"Or you could have, since you're up here more." Nami suggested as she made her way to the bench seat along the wall, next to where he had left the two gifts while he assisted her.

Zoro quickly joined her, dropping his weight into the bench seat so that they were sitting next to one another just as they were when they were at the dining table mere minutes ago. With the whiskey placed between them, Nami picked up both presents and handed him the wrapped one.

"I don't mind being in the dark up here." explained Zoro while accepting her belated gift, slightly hesitant given the roundabout way she ended up giving him a gift at all.

"Do you actually work out when it's this dark?" She wondered aloud.

Zoro nodded, "Sometimes."

Nami made a weird noise in response, one that he couldn't possibly decipher. He could take a stab in the dark though and assume it was judgemental.

"Anyway," she digressed rather loudly. "You have to open your gift from me."

"Yeah, uh," Zoro grabbed the bow like a weed and tug it off in one foul swoop. "Why didn't you just give it to me at dinner with everyone else?"

Nami, for a reason who couldn't comprehend, appeared angry that he would even ask such a thing. Her pout was heavy and brows knitted together above her fiery, brown eyes. She stared into his lone good eye for so long, he wondered if she was waiting for him to simply guess what the reason could possibly have been. Until she finally said, "Just open it."

Normally, he'd challenge her on her ridiculous decisions. However, her gaze was already so intense and he knew they she wouldn't look away until he tore off all of the wrapping paper and discovered what was underneath it. So, he had no choice but to bite his tongue and open his present silently.

The box within the paper had a lid and he pulled back it back swiftly. It confused him to see nothing more than some folded fabric, compelling him to grab a bunch of it in one hand and pull it back to hopefully find whatever was hidden inside of it. "Ah, careful!" Nami whined. She tried to snatch it out of his hand but Zoro refused to let her take hold of it. He spun his body around at his hips so he could look over the soft material in the hopes of deciphering whatever it was she got him.

"Wait!" He barked when he felt her begin to claw at his shoulders. "I'm trying to see what it is!"

"But you're not being careful enough!" She scolded him, nearly climbing onto his back as she fought to scale the reach of his arms.

"Careful with what?" asked Zoro, tossing the entire thing about. It wasn't until he saw a tube-like component attached on one side of it that his mind began to imagine what it was that she got for him.

"The seams!" Explained Nami directly into his ear.

Her crude proclamation drew his attention to the 'tube' that he now realized looked like a sleeve. Quickly, while his body was still able to block her from reaching over to the gift, he flipped it around and noticed there was indeed another sleeve. And somehow, there was a hood. Once he figured out the schematics of the blanket-like material, Zoro was able to toss it around until it was positioned correctly in his hands.

It was a...wearable blanket.

"What the hell…?" Was all he could think to say.

That earned him a punch to his shoulder, and he knew he deserved it.

"You jerk! I made this for you!"

"But what _is_ it!?" He faced her, dying to know the answer.

The moment he laid eyes on her face, he understood her frantic behaviour all of a sudden, why she didn't give it to him at the party: she was shy about her gift-making skills. She had turned a blanket into something he could wear like his everyday clothes and it embarrassed her to think that he wouldn't like it. She had repaired things like Luffy's hat in the past but he could not recall a time when she made something with her own two hands.

She took something ordinary and made it into something special just for him.

How her face burned bright red like a light on the tree in the kitchen. "It's a blanket you can wear! Isn't that obvious!?"

So he was right. "Yeah, but…"

"I knew that if I bought you a blanket, you'd just leave it somewhere and forget all about it. So I thought that if you put this on, at least you could fall asleep with a blanket on you. If you don't like it, I can just...change it back." He could see the thoughts running through her mind and could pinpoint the moment she decided that she couldn't handle him saying another word about her gift.

As she tried to once again retrieve from his hands, Zoro threw his arm into one of the sleeves.

"No!" she screeched.  
His free hand went searching for the other one.

In the most awkward fight of their entire relationship, Nami tried to wiggle her way into his blanket sleeve so that she could somehow reclaim her present that she gave to him. Zoro couldn't believe how bizarre the entire situation was! She made him something he'd never seen before, wanted to take it back, and was now physically fighting him for it!

He just got her a pair of cups he thought she'd like!  
"Nami!" He wailed.

For once, she said nothing. Instead, she got what she wanted and managed to sneak her arm into the empty sleeve before he could stop her. That didn't mean that he didn't also get his arm in there, though. He thought that he could flex his muscles and force her out of his robe-blanket-gift, but his stunt of sharing the one sleeve inspired her to stick her other arm into the other one. Together now, they shared the gift that was supposed to be his and all they could do was look at each other while they were stuck in such a strange face-to-face position.

"If you don't knock it off," Nami warned him. "You're going to end up having a sleepover tonight."

That was the weakest threat that he'd ever heard. "Okay." When he shrugged, he watched the extra fabric that fell around her swallow her upper body whole.

While he was trying not to laugh, she was smiling up at him. "Okay." She agreed.

Then, she tried to body check him.

"What the hell-!?"

"C'mon! We better get... rgh, comfortable!" suggested Nami as she fought to knock over the muscular, heavy swordsman that she could just as easily detach herself from peacefully. He let her try with all her might to push him down onto the bench seat just because it both amused and amazed him with how stubborn she was. He never knew her to be a quitter but he never expected her to try and take him physically before.

Entertained beyond belief, Zoro fell back onto the seat for her, pretending she had managed to achieve her goal. The wearable blanket did pull her forward with him however, forcing her to fall face first into his chest. He heard the way her forehead hit the toughness of his skin and his heart stopped. Did he hurt her? Panic began to flood his veins in order to prepare him for a counter attack…!

"Mm, so," Nami lifted her head and planted her chin into his pecs. She looked completely fine, happy even. She got what she wanted, so she was absolutely satisfied with herself. Speaking just above a whisper, she asked him. "Did you have a good Christmas?"

Zoro immediately wondered if this was what pillow talk was, the kind that Sanji sometimes lamented about late at night when complaining about his womanly woes to the other guys. Discussing moments of the day or summarizing it all together? '_Hmmm_…'

"Yeah," he admitted. "I got some really weird gifts this year-"

How wide her eyes grew.

"-that aren't so bad."

"You know we can't sleep like this, right?" Nami pointed out, failing to flap her arms properly in their strange position on a curved bench seat.

Zoro wondered if she felt the rumble in his chest as he laughed. "Then get your arms out of my sleeves!"

"I'm taking it back the moment you take it off, you know." Nami informed him as she slipped herself free. She began to get up and he assumed she was leaving, but as she moved her bottom to take a seat on the bench he was occupying, Zoro had no choice but to roll onto his side so there'd be room for her. He gawked at her wordless demand of him until he realized what she was doing: she was picking up the stemless wine glasses and pouring them both a glassful of whiskey.

By the time they'd finish the bottle, they'd probably ended up passing out together anyway and he'd be forced to - as Sanji once put it - spoon her. She _did_ warn him that he'd be having a sleepover in the Crow's Nest tonight, and he'd definitely prefer a drunken one.

When Nami handed him his first of many drinks with her that evening, she raised her glass a bit higher and said softly. "Merry Christmas, Zoro."

Her smile and kindness and craftsmanship this season melted his heart ever so slightly this holiday season. With a grin of his own, he clinked his glass against hers and offered back a a few nice words of his own, "Merry Christmas, Nami."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Confirmed: Nami invented the Snuggie in One Piece. Hope your gift, evilishei! And happy holidays to all and to all, a good night!


End file.
